Justice Center reps discuss Affordable Care Act

Representatives from the N.C. Justice Center conducted a meeting Saturday at the Omega Center explain the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and to urge the 75 to 100 people who attended to stand up to their lawmakers in Raleigh who are refusing to expand Medicaid insurance.

Representatives from the N.C. Justice Center conducted a meeting Saturday at the Omega Center explain the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and to urge the 75 to 100 people who attended to stand up to their lawmakers in Raleigh who are refusing to expand Medicaid insurance.

Nicole Dozier of the N.C. Justice Center, who was one of the featured speakers, said the meeting was called “A Time to Learn,” and it was to emphasize how low-income people were losing benefits because North Carolina lawmakers refuse to expand the Medicaid benefits through the Affordable Care Act.

“We think it is time for everyone in the state to learn about what is going on with the Affordable Care Act, in particular the blockage of expanding Medicaid to half a million North Carolinians and about the opportunities through the health benefits exchange,” Dozier said. “We think North Carolina lawmakers, including the governor, made a bad decision in rejecting federal money and in not expanding Medicaid to people who deserve it. They deserve what the governor and lawmakers have, which is access to quality, affordable health care.”

According to the N.C. Justice Center, North Carolina would receive $15 billion in federal funds if Medicaid was expanded and create 25,000 new jobs by 2016.

Dozier said she wanted people to learn more about the Affordable Care Act and share it in their communities and contact their lawmakers and tell them they did the wrong thing by not expanding Medicaid and they should fix it.

Otis Waterman Jr. of Vanceboro said he attended the meeting because he wanted to find a way to make things better for children and the elderly.

“We have a struggle going on with health care; we have a struggle going on with unemployment; and we have a struggle going on with the education system also; and if we are not here to represent (our rights), we will not be funded appropriately,” Waterman said. “Children are going to be out without the proper education. I hope to learn we have some avenues to make things happen … making a change for the better for our children and the elders.”

Adam Linker, health policy analyst with the Health Access Coalition who spoke at the event, said he wanted people to know there were many benefits in the Affordable Care Act, including subsidies to help people purchase insurance plans.

Much of the Affordable Care Act is implemented on a state level, and legislators have already made it more difficult for people to get health insurance, Linker said.

“So to really implement the Affordable Care Act and fulfill the promise of health care reform we need action in Raleigh,” he said. “We can’t just sit back and say the Affordable Care Act is taking care of things.”

Page 2 of 2 - The Affordable Care Act has the potential to get nearly everyone in North Carolina insured, Linker said. About half the coverage comes from subsidies to buy private insurance and about half of the coverage comes from expanding Medicaid to all low-income people in North Carolina, he said.

North Carolina has 1.5 million uninsured people. If the governor and legislators had expanded Medicaid, it would have covered about 500,000 uninsured people, Linker said.

“While the rest of us are moving forward in 2014 with all the provisions they won’t benefit from it,” Dozier added.

In Craven County 19.6 percent of resident did not have health insurance in 2008-09 (the latest data available), compared to 15.9 percent in North Carolina. That year 10.3 percent of children in Craven County did not have health insurance. In December 2010, 14,623 residents were eligible for Medicaid in Craven County, according to information from the N.C. Institute of Medicine and N.C. Division of Medical Assistance.

Linker said it didn’t matter if people supported or opposed health reform; they needed to take an interest in it.

“Where ever you stand politically you should want health reform implemented in a good way because if you don’t do it in a good way it is going to end up being more expensive for all of us; it’s going to mean higher insurance rates for individuals; its going to mean higher insurance rates for companies,” he said.

Marshall Williams, president of the New Bern NAACP, said there were a lot of promises made by the governor and lawmakers and they needed to be held responsible.

“All those legislators in Raleigh need to remember they are not going to push us back,” Williams said. “We are going forward and 2014 will tell the tale.”

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. The law puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years and beyond.

In 2014 tax credits for families will be available to help the middle class afford insurance. The credits will become available for those with income between 100 percent and 400 percent of the poverty line who are not eligible for other affordable coverage, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Congressional Budget Office has determined that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is fully paid for, will provide coverage to more than 94 percent of Americans while staying under the $900 billion limit that President Obama established.

The “Time to Learn” event at the Omega Center was sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Coastal Carolina and the New Bern NAACP and Organizing For ActionCraven.

Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at eddie.fitzgerald@newbernsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.